Waiting for Daylight
by Yuriko Tsukino
Summary: Inu Yasha is serriously wounded while in Human form, and Kagome must take care of him alone, unsure if he will make it to morning


"Kagome! Get back!" Kagome turned to Inu Yasha, who was currently locked in combat with his brother. Seshomarou was beating the hanayou back, slowly, the distraction Kagome caused let him gain furthur ground, pushing him down. Sango launched her boomerang bone, but Seshomarou blasted it out of the way. Mirokou stood on the sidelines, unsure of what to do. He reached for the covering on his right hand. "Baka! Don't even think about it!" Sango hit him over the head with her boomerang. "We'll do it the old fashioned way." Kagome turned her attention back to her goal. About twenty yards away lay her bow and arrows. If she could just get to them, she would be able to help Inu Yasha. But she would have to hurry. The sun was begining to sink, and tonight was the new moon. She scuttled a little closer, hidding behind rocks and brush to make sure neither the hanayou or the youkai saw her. She was almost within reach of them, when the sky darkened and a blook curdling scream was heard.  
  
Kagome whirled around, and saw a human Inu Yasha, clutched tightly in his brothers grasp, with the pointed end of the Tetsusaiga sticking through his middle. Kagome scream. "Inu Yasha!" He looked up at her as Seshomarou released him, and he slid to the ground. Seshomarou held to sword up and examined it. "It looks so much better stained with my brothers blood," he said. The initial shock wearing off, Kagome snatched her arrows, letting them fly one after another. "I swear I will kill you!" she cried as tears flooded her eyes. Her anger gave power to the arrows, and Seshomarou was unable to deflect them. Four hit their target, and he was thrown back against a wall of rock. He didn't move. Kagome ran to his victaim. "Inu Yasha!" She lifted his head. He was gushing blood. "Inu Yasha, wake up!" Very slowly, his eyes opened as Sango and Mirokou came up behind them. "Kiara!" The cute cat creature became the large demon, and together the three of them loaded Inu yasha gently onto her back. "Kagome, you ride with them back to the village to try to get help," Mirokou said. "We will follow behind." Kagome nodded, and climbed on. Kiara took to the skies, and Kagome prayed to whatever kami would listen that Inu Yasha would live.  
  
They haddn't been flying long, when Kagome knew the village was too far. Inu Yasha haddn't stopped bleading, haddn't even slowed, and even flying the village was still hours away. She urged Kirara to land, and carefully slipped him to the ground. He moaned painfully. I've to find something for a bangage! Kagome thought desperately. She had nothing but the clothes on her back. She hesitated, then removed her sweater, then her blouse. She pulled the sweater back on, and comenced ripping the blouse into strips. She gently removed Inu Yasha's kimono and under shirt, wincing and trying not to throw up when she saw how badly wounded he was. She wraped the strips around him, but even as careful as she was, he still moaned grimaced, even though he was unconsiouse. Kagome leaned against a tree, and laid his head in her lap. I don't want to move him...I've never seen him hurt this badly. Even when he was poisoned....it wasn't like this. He didn't get so weak so quickly. She stroaked his hair, smoothing his bangs away from his face. Could he actually die? That thought made her uneasy. No. No. If he can just make it until morning.... Goosebumps began to form on her patient's arms. Even though she was loath to do so, she lain his kimono over him, despite the fact that it was twice the usual weight from blood. Kiara, now in her smaller form, crawled up beside them and curled up againsted the wounded hanayou. She seemed to say, "I may not have hands, or know anything about humans, but here's my contribution to making him feel better." Kagome didn't sleep all night. She only sat there, running her fingers through Inu Yasha's hair, stroaking his cheek, doing whatever she could to ease the pained look on his face. It took forever, but finally the bleeding slowed to a trickle, and Kagome felt tenative releif and a spark of hope ingnite in her heart. She nearly panicked, though, when he began to shake in his sleep. "Inu Yasha!" The dog demon jerked awake, glancing around, a look of fear on his face. He turned his head, and winced in pain. "K-Kagome--" He tried to get up, but Kagome pushed him back down. "No. It's ok, I'm right here." He turned his face up to her, as if to be sure that he wasn't imagining her voice. "Are you alright?" She resumed her carresses as he relaxed again. "I...I dreamed that...Seshomarou...he had taken you, and when I went to....to rescue you, you turned into Kikyo, and sealed me....but when I looked back....you were the one holding the bow..." "I would never do that to you," she replied. She masaged his temples and tried to hold back her tears. Ever word was obviously causing him pain; he was panting slightly, and that only seemed to make it worse. He tried to find a more comfortable position, but couldn't. "Go back to sleep," Kagome whispered. It didn't take long for him to comply; Kagome could tell he was utterly exhausted. There were no more disturbances until about an hour before dawn, when Kagome suddenly realized how cold his face felt. She paniked slightly, afraid that he might have died without her noticing. He was so still, he breath so silent and shallow now that he was asleep... She ran her fingers along his jaw until she found his pulse. She sighed loudly. "Just a little longer," she whispered. "Just a little longer until dawn, and then you'll be ok." She turned to the east, waiting, watching; the sky turned grey, then slowly, slowly, reds and oranges began to make their way upward, chasing the dark blues from the sky. Kagome glanced down. Silver streaks were begining to appear in Inu Yashas hair, and he stired slightly. He opened his eyes, looking weakly towards the growing light of dawn. The sun crept over the horizon; his hair become lighter, his ears went back to normal, and his tired blue eyes become yellow once again, with a hint of their fire and strength rekindled. He raised his head as though to get up, but Kagome put a hand on his forehead and pushed him back down gently. "Give yourself time to regenerate," she whspered, and punctuated her sentance with a yawn. He looked up at her, and she smiled tiredly, straoking his hair, just as she had all night.  
  
The next thing she knew, Kagome was waking up. The first thing she noticed was that her fingers, wrists, arms, back, and bottom were sore and her legs had fallen alseep from being in the same position for twelve hours. Her neck hurt too, and it was hot from the late morning sun beating down on it. The next thing she noticed was that Inu Yashas head was no longer on her lap. Kagome sat straight up, looking around franticaly for him. "Inu Yasha?" "I'm over here." She turned around. He was crouched a few yards away, watching her intently. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Yeah. I'm almost healed." The feeling started coming back to her legs, and she went to him as fast as she could. Kagome threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "N-nani?!" "I was so scared--" All the stress and fear she had held back the night before boiled over, and she sobbed into his chest. "The way you were bleeding---I thought you'd never stop! I was afraid--terrified that you wouldn't make it to sunrise, because I knew that if you did, you would be ok, you could regerate. But you were so cold--and--and you were hardly breathing---I--" Kagome gave up all pretense of trying to speak, and instead just clung to him, sobbing. Inu Yasha stared blankly down at her for a moment. "Baka wench." It came out as just above a whisper. "Haven't you learned by now that it takes a lot to kill me?" Kagome just held on tighter. "I know it takes a lot, but I've never seen you in that much pain. And I thought you were going to bleed to death..." With a nearly histerical girl pinning him in place, crying into him and clining as tightly as humanly possible to him, Inu Yasha did the only thing he could. He hugged her back. "I won't die," he said. "If I did, who'd protect you? I don't trust the lech to protect you properly if something happened to me. Besides," he smoothed back her hair, just as she had done to him. "I don't want to leave you." There. He had said it. He wasn't ready to say why yet, but he had said the most important thing; he wanted to take care of her, and he wanted to be with her. Kagome turned up her tear stained face. She just looked at him for a moment, then streached her neck up to kiss his cheek. "For now, I suppose that's enough." The wind changed, and Inu Yasha caught three very familiar scents. He whirled around, and there, trying to hide while still getting a good veiw were Sango, Mirokou, and Shippo, and of them looking very pleased, with mildly surpressed 'I told you so' looks on their faces. "All of that, and you're not even going to make him confess his love?" Mirokou asked Kagome. He looked at Inu Yasha. "And what lech is it that you do not trust?" Sango nudged him. "Leave them alone. They haven't even had a good kiss yet." The objects of their conversation made no reply, as they were both twitching with embarrasment on the ground. 


End file.
